He's Alive, Without Any Doubt
by wemaybefangirls
Summary: Shirazu Ginshi doesn't die during the Tsukiyama family raid, but after he wakes up from being hospitalized, he was to deal with becoming a half ghoul, being the father of the Quinx and dealing with his guilt over Sasaki's disappearance after the raid.
1. The Beginning of The End

The last thing that Shirazu felt before passing out was the feeling of darkness consuming him.

Opening his eyes, Shirazu looked at the unusual, and yet somewhat familiar sights. He felt pain, a massive amount of pain, especially on his torso, and as he looked around the room, memory started coming back to him. He was with the rest of his squad, Noro appeared, Urie hit Noro... The memories of the last battle swirled around in his mind, he started feeling more and more concerned. Where were the others? Were they alright? Was Sasaki alright? What happened?

Shirazu tried to lift himself up slightly, but let out a cry as the wound hurt even more. What was going on? Suddenly, the door opened with a bang a doctor came inside, accompanied by a nurse.

The doctor addressed him. "Hello, Mr. Shriazu." He said with a professional, but warm smile. "You're quite a fighter, aren't you? You could've died there."

Shirazu interrupted him. "Is everyone else ok? Did anyone else die?" He coughed violently. It maybe wasn't the best idea to speak, but he couldn't help himself.

The doctor shook his head. "I don't really know. I wasn't told anything except for your... Condition. However, the CCG told me to notify them when you wake up, and as such, I called them. They will probably explain what's going on much better."

Shirazu nodded compliantly, settling back onto the pillow as the doctor checked up on him. He felt himself drifting off again, until his shoulder was shook, by the doctor.

"Now that I'm done, I should probably tell you how your health is - and also that the two CCG officers visiting you will be here is twenty or so minutes.

Shirazu nodded again.

"Alright. So, you were cut almost in half by the ghoul, however despite that, you managed to survive, which is surprising, despite you being a Quinx. You had lost a massive amount of blood and broken numerous ribs, so you will be excluded from missions for the next month, and should take it easy after that.

Shirazu's eyes widened. And entire month? He couldn't be able to help out his squad for entire month?

The doctor seemed to understand Shirazu's emotions almost instantly. "If you do, you will risk the chance of injuring yourself even more, and I doubt that death would be a well liked option."

Shirazu sighed and leaned back further onto the pillows. This was a shitty situation for him, and there was no doubt about that. The one thing that he would like is to know is what happened to his Squad, and everyone else that was there. Was anyone else badly injured? Was anyone but Michibata, Umeno, and Nezu dead? Was Kuramoto alright?

While his mind was still spinning the possibilities around, he didn't notice Akira and Arima walk in thru the door.

"Shirazu, are you feeling any better?" Akira asked, more concern apparent in her voice then usual.

He nodded lightly, careful not to hurt himself more. "Well, I'm not dying, so I feel that I am at least a bit better then I was. What is the date anyways? And what happened to Sasaki, and Urie and all -"

He was cut off abruptly by Arima. "Be patient. We are going to tell you. Today is eight days after the mission, and as you probably know, you just woke up."

He paused just long enough for Shirazu to be extremely worried. "What?" He snapped, not caring about the pain that came right after.

Akira winced slightly, her eyes turning slightly glossy. "Well, first of all, we have many causalities - Umeno, Mezu, and Michibata from the Kuramoto squad, the entire Kijima squad including himself, and Ihei from-"

Shirazu interrupted again, with clear shock in his voice. "I-Ihei is... Dead?" He couldn't believe this; Ihei was powerful, and amazing, and...

Akira nodded. "Unfortunately, she was found decapitated by Ui. The only survivor on that floor was Furuta."

"Then are the rest of us, and Haise alright? And Kuramoto? They weren't on that floor, right?" Shirazu's voice rose in pitch, and he seemed almost terrified.

Akira breathed deeply, and looked at Arima, urging him to continue for her. He nodded. "The Quinx, while not unharmed, are all alive. Kuramoto, as well, is recovering in the hospital. While he is not in the best position." He paused.

Shirazu, even though he wasn't in the best position, realized that Arima had skipped Sasaki.

"Where's Sassan?" He demanded, hoping that Sasaki was alright, that he was alive, that he was at home. Arima swallowed.

"He has... Disappeared. He could not be found after the battle, alongside the Tsukiyama family heir."

Shirazu gasped, shocked by what happened. "W-what? Sassan is gone? W-where?" He knew his voice was shaking, but he didn't care. All he wanted was for Sasaki to be safe.

Akira nodded, and once again, Shirazu noticed that her eyes were glazed over, as if she wanted to cry. "That's correct."

Arima looked at Shirazu very carefully. "There are two more things that we would like to talk about. One good, one bad. What of the two would you want us to tell you first."

Shirazu though it over for a moment - which would he decide, before picking the former. "Let's start with the good news."

Akira smiled worriedly. "Well, as you might know, you killed Noro."

Shirazu's eyes widened. But it was Urie that killed Noro! Why was he -

Akira continued, cutting off his train of thought. "Noro was an SS-rated ghoul. And, you showed large amounts of courage, and care for your comrades as well as skill when killing him. As such, we decided to give you two awards - the prestigious Double White Wing medal, and a promotion."

At this, Shirazu interjected - the medal was one thing, but a promotion? If anyone wanted, and deserved a promotion, it was Urie. "Urie deserves that promotion more then I do. And so do Saiko and Mutsuki."

At that, Arima raised a brow. "We believe that Mr Mutsuki and Mr Urie deserve a promotion - however Saiko Yonebayashi is the other Quinx member is getting a promotion."

"Is that so we all will be 1st rank?" Shirazu asked, shocked that Urie and Mutsuki were not getting a promotion, out of the four.

Akira smiled, though bleakly. "The other three will be. You on the other hand, are going to be... " she looked back towards Arima.

He nodded at her. "You're going to be a First Class investigator. Congratulations on that. You truly deserve it."

At that, Shriazu let out a giant gasp, followed by a very cringeworthy cough of pain. "W-what?" He croaked, feeling even dizzier and lightheaded then he had felt mere moments ago. "W-why am I skipping 1st Rank? Why do I deserve this promotion? Why?" By the end, his voice has cracked numerous times, and he was feeling slightly sick. Was this supposed to be positive? It wasn't. He wasn't anywhere near good enough to be a First Class. Akira was a First Class, and she was thousands of times better then him.

Akira had noticed his terrible guilt, and giving him the same shaky smile she had moments before, she patted his arm. "Shirazu, it will be alright. You deserve this promotion."

Arima, on the other hand, did not have such tact, or maybe, and more likely, he preferred to not use it. "Now, on to the bad news, I'm afraid."

Shirazu gulped again. There were worse news? Hell, after that, he didn't think that there were any worse bombshells that could be dropped on him. His mentor was gone, his friends were probably all badly injured, some of his comrades were dead, and even past all of that, he was now promoted instead of Urie, the one who should've been promoted. Hell, he wasn't even promoted one rank! He was now above Urie, Mutsuki and Saiko in rank. His head spun again.

"There are worse news?"

Arima nodded, almost sympathetically, but when combined with his stoic demeanour and his unnervingly piercing gaze, it really didn't help. "Unfortunately, yes."

Shirazu nodded in understanding. "How bad are those news?" He suddenly thought about his sister. If it had something to do with her, by God...

Akira interrupted his train of thought once again. "The news are very... Grave, and very life changing. You should prepare yourself. Would you like some tea before hearing them?" She asked, scared of what Shirazu's reaction would be.

Arima's mouth twitched downwards, and he elbowed Akira harshly. Her eyes widened, and she quickly corrected herself. "I mean, would you like some coffee?"

Shriazu's eyes narrowed, wondering what the exchange that just happened was, but he then nodded slowly. "Yes, please. I would get some coffee. "

Arima nodded and went outside of the room to the hospital cafe to get two cups of coffee and a cup of tea, as Akira was left alone in the room with Shirazu.

She was very obviously tense and upset about something - that was apparent. However, when Arima left, he

closed his eyes and sighed.

"Are you alright?" She asked, still sounding terribly upset.

Shirazu nodded slowly. "Not really but..." He sighed. "I'm not sure what to do." Akira bit her lip. After learning the bad news... Well, he probably wouldn't be anywhere near alright. Thankfully, Arima and Akira managed to convince the Washuu family to leave Shirazu in their command, but was that even a good thing for Shirazu? Did he want this?

The duo sat in silence until the door banged open and Arima walked in with the cups, no expression on her face. Shirazu's eyes instantly snapped open, and Akira straightened out, a fake looking smile back on her face.

She took the tea and one of the coffees from Akima, and put the coffee down onto the counter right beside Shirazu. "Do you need any help sitting up?" She asked, glancing down towards the large, gaping wound on his torso, that despite being bandaged and healing especially fast she knew was still large. He nodded. Slowly, but surely, she helped him sit up, beside the coffee, though he was leaning oddly onto the wall, favouring his right side.

She moved towards the seat in front of Shirazu's hospital bed, right beside Arima. She took a sip from her tea, and Arima copied the motion. Shirazu hesitated, but took a sip from his coffee. His eyes lit up, and he took another, larger sip. When he put the coffee cup down, he had a small, quiet smile on his face.

Arima nodded at that action. "Shirazu, did you enjoy the coffee?" He asked, his tone rather stern and not sounding like someone to be disobeyed.

While he looked confused, Shirazu nodded. "Yeah... It was barely bitter. Did you put sugar in it or something?"

At that, Akira let out a small sob, but quickly covered that up with the more professional expression that usually graced her features.

Arima smiled lightly. "Are you hungry?" He asked. "You haven't eaten in a while."

"Is this the setup for a bad dad joke? But I'm not hungry at all, surprisingly enough. Though if you would give me something, I wouldn't mind it."

Arima nodded, and gestured at Akira, who nodded, and went outside for a second. After, she returned with a tray that had some fish, rice, miso soup and tofu. She put it beside him. "Go on, try something." She urged.

Shirazu took the chopsticks, and decided to take a bite of the fish first. After biting in, he winced. Undeterred, he tried every item on the menu, his face twisting up more and more with each bite. Arima looked suspiciously cheerful, while Akira was looking downwards. After he had tried everything, he winced and put his chopsticks down.

"How does it taste?" Asked Arima, his eyes glinting.

Shirazu glared at Arima. "It tastes terrible," he muttered. "The Rice tasted like glue, the texture of the tofu is the same as solidified animal fat, and the miso soup tastes like engine oil. I can't stomach it!"

Arima nodded. "Now, why do you think that is?"

Shirazu grimaced. "Because the person that made this cannot cook?"

Arima shook his head. "No. Guess again."

Shirazu rolled his eyes. "That's the only possible explanation. Or did my tastebuds scramble?"

Arima shrugged. "Warmer."

Shirazu rolled his eyes, annoyed. "Tell me. What happened."

Akira took a deep breath. "Well, as you know, your Kagune was behind a set of Quinque steel frames. During the battle, you..." She paused. "You broke through the frames." She looked back at Arima."Because of that, you had stopped being a Quinx."

Shirazu almost gasped. "D-does that mean..."

Arima nodded solemnly. "You are now a full half-ghoul. I apologize."

The last thing Shirazu heard was blood rushing in his ears before he fainted from the recent shock.


	2. Everything Changes Once Again

After that ghastly revelation, the hospital seemed to be even less welcoming then before, and even closer to the prison Shirazu saw it as. Whatever happened, the dull, dark cloud of him being a half ghoul hung around the entire room, and it joined the dark cloud of his sister's condition. Being a Quinx, in a sense, was different. When he was still a Quinx, a partial ghoul, he could eat human foods, and in a sense, he still felt... Still normal, maybe. But now, he was an oddity, an unusual creature.

At that thought, Shirazu winced. "Sasa- Sasan's a half ghoul..." He muttered, mainly to himself. He couldn't say something like that - not while Sasaki was his mentor. And not only that, but he felt so conflicted when it came to ghouls. After Nutcracker's death, he had lost his former belief about how ghouls were monsters. While he was sure Noro was a monster, he didn't know enough about ghouls... Were they like people? Shirazu shook his head, and decided to stop the train of thought that had almost run him over after the Auction.

Today was his last day in the hospital, and honestly, he was absolutely terrified. What was he supposed to say, or even do. How will Urie react to seeing him again, especially now that he was above Urie in rank, especially? He didn't know if he was just being paranoid or something of that matter, but it wasn't like he had seen them ever since the Raid, and it's not like they talked a lot then.

For whatever reason they had, the Quinx hadn't visited him while he was in the hospital. In fact, as far as he knew, they hadn't called, sent anything... It was like to them, he was dead. It both upset him, and scared him. However, despite the crippling doubts and loneliness, there were some good things about spending all this time in the hospital. Hirako had visited him in the hospital, and the two of them had a long, albeit rather one sided conversations.

Hirako was himself probably upset, Shirazu mused. The guy was not only transferred to Arima's squad, where he was clearly miserable and which he hated, but now lost almost his entire squad and a close friend of his. And Hirako wasn't even a bad guy - he was stoic, sure, and more then a little awkward, but he was pleasant.

He was also visited daily by Takeomi, who during that week had not only moved up in Shirazu's favourite people list, and Shirazu was certain would become a friend of his. Tuned out that they liked the same music, and watched the same TV shows. Akira and Arima showed up a few times, and he knew they were going to be coming here in a few minutes.

The last time the the two of them had visited him, they had mentioned that they would be talking to him about a very serious and important. Shirazu was pretty scared of what they were going to talk about - the last time such an event occurred, Shirazu found himself a half-ghoul First Class CCG officer. What would it be this time? Being a vampire associate special class?

Despite all of his anxieties, he knew that he would be happier at home, with his squad in peace. While he would be at home and not doing anything for a very long time, Shirazu also knew that at least he would have what remained of his CCG family - again, Saiko, Urie and Mutsuki. As well, when he returned home, he would be able to visit him sister - something that he loved doing. Despite her absolutely tragic situation, she never lost her happiness, and was a large part of the reason that Shirazu was always at least somewhat optimistic.

He thought of what he should bring his sister, the next time she visited him. It was a longstanding tradition for the siblings. When Shirazu was younger, due to his father's death and mother's dissapearence, he not only went to school every day, but also worked as much as he could. However, every other Sunday, he would use his work break to visit his sister, and he always brought her a little something-or-other, to make up for seeing her so rarely. Maybe a manga magazine, or a notebook, or some chocolate was usually the type of gift brought. And despite working in the CCG and having way more spare time, and visiting her at least twice a week, he still brought her the presents once every two weeks.

He was sure his sister was extremely worried about him, and that thought really hurt him. In a sense, despite having his Quinx family, his sister was the only remaining member of his actual family, and being her older brother, he felt that he owed her peace, especially due to her terrible situation.

Shirazu spent the next couple of minutes just thinking about his family, his mother in particular - he did that rarely nowadays, to be perfectly honest. He got upset whenever that happened. His mother wasn't really the brightest person around, but she was decently sweet before her husband's death. After that, she shut down. And her at that point in time thirteen year old son who recently saw his father commit suicide, became the primary caretaker of his little sister. After his mother's dissapearence four years later, he had to deal with all of the family problems, including his sister's hospitalization. Shirazu never really knew if he resented his mother or not. He knew, especially now, how terribly difficult her life was, but still. She left her young, hospitalized daughter and young son alone, having to take care of themselves.

While he was musing about his life, and what was going on, he didn't really notice his hospital room door opening, and two very familiar people walking in. Akira and Arima were talking quietly and concernedly about something, and when Shirazu heard their voices, his head snapped towards them and he smiled.

"Hello." Arima said softly, looking directly at Shirazu's face. "I hope you had a peaceful, restful day. You'll be coming back home today, correct?"

Shirazu nodded awkwardly. Generally, his interactions with Arima were very awkward, to say the least. Arima was just that - an awkward person and Shirazu was very intimidated by his superior.

"Yes?" He said, his voice raising in pitch by the end. "I think I am?"

Arima nodded at that, while Akira just sighed. "You're coming home to the Quinx, but there are certain... changes that you might want to know about, both short term and long term. "

At that, Shirazu nodded. He wasn't expecting everything to stay the same - he wasn't the brightest person in the universe, for sure, but he also was intelligent enough to know that now, especially with Sasaki being gone and him becoming a half-ghoul, things would be different. However, what piqued his interest was that there were both short- and long- term changes. He had expected long-term changes. But what could these short-term changes be?

"Short term ones?" He asked, slightly confused. "What short-term ones?" He sat up a bit straighter on his bed.

Akira nodded. "Yes. When two people arrive," she paused, looked at the clock and looked back. "very shortly, maybe in a few minutes we will have a very complicated discussion. You might not like this... Decision, but unfortunately, we," she gestured at herself and Arima, "have no say in the matter."

Arima nodded. "Despite that, it is a very nessesary decision at this point in time. There are few, or no, alternate options to keep both you, and the Quinx safe from all harm in such a situation. Akira sighed at that, and looked away, in both acceptance and pain.

"That is true..." She muttered under her breath.

Shirazu could tell that she was upset, for sure, but he didn't know why, to be completely honest. What decisions could they make? And if Akira was upset, for his sake as well, this was not going to be completely great. Or, in fact, great at all. It would maybe be passable... Shirazu sucked in a deep breath.

"Can you not tell me what it is? If the people will arrive shortly..."

Akira shook her head. "No, we can't. And it's only twenty or so minutes... You can wait, for sure."

With these words, Akira settled down on one of the chairs provided, while Arima stood beside her, as stoic as ever.

The time between them crawled as slowly as it could, winding between them and slowly choking all of them. The atmosphere became more tension-ridden, and Shirazu felt more and more nervous. What was going to happen to him, to the Quinx, to Sasaki?

The mood was soon lifted by Akira quickly standing up. "I'll go get myself tea. Does anyone want anything?"

Shirazu looked up at her and nodded. "One coffee." Over the days he was at the hospital, he had given in to his newfound love for coffee, and decided that if he couldn't eat normal food, he should at least try to drink something humanoid. That way, he could technically drink coffee for breakfast, which would be less suspicious then eating nothing.

Arima suddenly spoke up. "I'd like a coffee too." Akira herself looked very shocked, but nodded quickly and left the room.

It didn't take long for Akira to return - it felt more like a minute then the actual five it was. She set the cups down, similar to how Arima did when he had brought the drinks a couple of days ago.

The trio sat in silence, consuming their beverages. There was no talking, but still, everyone knew what the other two were feeling.

Suddenly, the door swung wide open, and in walked two people - Yoshitoki Washuu and, surprisingly, Hirako.

Shirazu's eyes widened as he saw the duo. They didn't sat anything, and just sat down, leaving Arima the only person standing in the room.

Yoshitoki smiled warmly at Shirazu. "How are you feeling? What you did then was very brave - you deserved every award you received."

Shirazu smiled awkwardly at Yoshitoki - despite his kindness, the man was a Washuu, and as of now, Shirazu was a half ghoul. "Well, I'm doing better..."

Yoshitoki nodded. "That's good to hear. Now that everyone is here, should we begin?"

Everyone nodded, and Yoshitoki began.

"Shirazu, first and foremost - you are not allowed to tell anyone about your half-ghoul status. You especially cannot tell the Quinx. If you do, well..."

Shirazu nodded. "I'll be killed."

"Percicely."

Shirazu, while not particularly happy about this decision, understood exactly why it was taken. It would not be good for anyone to know that he wasn't really human - and he would absolutely comply.

"The second point is something that you'll probably dislike. Very much so."

Shirazu took in a deep breath and closed his eyes to calm himself. He couldn't react with anger or spite - Yoshitoki was not a person he would want to fight, ever. After a couple of moments, he sighed and opened his eyes, trying to remain calm and collected.

"What is it?" He asked, dreading the response, whatever it was going to be.

Yoshitoki sighed, and looked at Shirazu. "You are the first person to know of this plan, out of the people it concerns. Again, you are not allowed to tell anyone this. The rest of your squad and all others involved will be told in around a month. "

Shirazu nodded again. What he was saying so far made no sense, sure, but hey! He was going to find out more. "What should I not tell anyone?"

Yoshitoki paused for a second. "You see, there is a large problem involving your squad and the Itou squad." At that, Hirako cringed. "These squads, that are equal rank, lost four members in total, out of the ten in total, leaving yourself, Mutsuki, Urie, Kuramoto and Takeomi."

Shirazu nodded. He knew this already - it was obvious. "So, what are you planning to do?" He asked, still unsure of what Yoshitoki was getting at.

"I have come to the desicion of creating a joint Itou-Quinx squad. And this is where you come in."

"Me?" Shirazu wondered, not understanding what was going on.

"Yes. You are the," he coughed, "You are the extra one. And it is difficult to keep you in that Squad."

Shirazu's eyes widened. "Does that mean..." He whispered.

Yoshitoki nodded. "You are being transferred."

Shirazu gasped, wanting to scream, to cry, to yell, but no words came out. "W-what? Why? What did I do?" He almost yelled, his breathing getting shakier and shakier."

Yoshitoki continued, ignoring Shirazu's emotional state and feelings as Hirako and Akira looked at him sympathetically. "You will be part of the Arima squad - which consists of Arima, Akira and now, Hirako."

Shirazu was still horrified. Not only had he deal with the loss of his mentor and the knowledge that he was a half-ghoul, but now this? Having to leave his family?

"In a month, after your official promotion, you will start working with the Arima squad. It will be easier for you to keep your ghoul state a secret, and it would be easier for us to monitor you."

Shirazu could only stare blankly forwards as Yoshitoki gave his speech about Shirazu's responsibilities and even new wage. All he heard was white noise - why was this happening to him? Why now of all times? He was their squad leader too...

He realized even more what Hirako felt, and felt even sorrier for the poor man.

He looked up, as Hirako gave him a small, but sad smile. "It will be ok." He mouthed.

Shirazu genuinely hoped it would.


	3. Seeing Fairy-Chan and Urie-Kun

Shirazu awkwardly trotted up the steps that lead to the Château's front door, and waved to his driver to go. He was still annoyed that Arima didn't allow him to drive back, but it was now time to focus on the task at hand. Despite it seeming that he did want to go back, he didn't know how everyone would react, and that scared him. Life without Sasaki would be very difficult to adjust to, too. He didn't know how he would do it. And it would be even harder with his newfound knowledge that he was going to be leaving his squad in a month or so.

Standing on the porch, Shirazu took a deep breath. "It'll be ok." He muttered to himself. "Every thing will be fine. Shirazu, you can do killed an SS rated ghoul, you can do this" He couldn't appear glum and lifeless to the rest of the Quinx - he was their leader, and a part of that was ensuring that they were emotionally stable. And since Sasaki disappeared, well, they would be counting on him even more. Who else did they have, other then him now?

After waiting for another minute or two, breathing deeply to calm himself and his nerves the entire time, Shirazu ran the doorbell. He could hear its' sound echoing in the house and then… nothing. Usually when he was coming home, wether from a trip or even a meeting at the CCG, the house bustled with activity. He could usually hear Urie yelling for everyone to shut up, Saiko's exited footsteps running down the hall, and even Sasaki's calm tone as he warned Saiko not to run, lest she sprained an ankle or something. He could even picture Mutsuki sitting on the couch, shaking his head at his slightly odd team, but really doing nothing to stop them. While before, this image used to bring him joy, it brought him only sadness now.

Suddenly, he heard an unclear shout, and instantly, the door was open. A tiny, blue-haired blur slammed in to him, and hugged him tightly around the waist.

"Shiragin! You're ok!" Saiko called out, hugging him even tighter then before.

Shirazu winced and unwrapped her arms. "It's not that I'm not happy to see you, and all, but that spot is still pretty sore.. "

Saiko nodded, and quickly clung on to his arm. "Arima told us not to contact you! So if you were wondering, that's why we didn't! I'm sorry! You were probably very lonely!"

Shirazu chuckled as the duo made their way towards the kitchen area. "It's fine. Takeomi, Hirako, Akira and Arima visited me almost daily, and I was asleep for like fifteen hours a day. "

Saiko looked confused. "Takeomi and Hirako visited you?"

Shirazu nodded, sighing as he looked over the now Sasaki-less kitchen. "Yeah. Takeomi is in the hospital for mild lacerations, I think, and Hirako visited Itou, and occasionally stopped by to visit me."

Saiko nodded, and following his line of sight over to the kitchen seemed to dim herself. "Yeah... We decided not to address the elephant in the room."

Shirazu nodded. "Makes sense... By the way, where are Urie and Mutsuki?"

Saiko grimaced. "Urie is in his room and Mutsuki is buying groceries. We all though you were supposed to be here in an couple of hours or so."

Shirazu nodded. "Yeah. Do you want to wait until everyone gets here?"

"It would be better! Want to play some video games?"

Shirazu nodded, and the two sprinted up the stairs, Shirazu's fear and hesitation fading very quickly.

The duo sat in Saiko's bedroom, with him watching Saiko play a video game - Undervale or something. It seemed to be interesting enough, but he was currently worried about Urie and dinner, albeit for very different reasons. He didn't know what to do during dinner, but at least Akira and Arima would be there. In regards to Urie, he had to fight his own battle. He was also unsure what Urie's reaction would be. Would Urie be angry, or upset?

Saiko and Mutsuki were easy to deal with. Saiko was just like Haru, and Mutsuki was easy to cheer up. But Urie was someone who's thoughts were never clear.

Suddenly, the door to Saiko's room burst open and Urie walked in. Speak of the devil, right?

"Shirazu, you're back early. Saiko, why didn't you tell me?" he snapped, staring down the younger girl.

Saiko chuckled. "W-ell, Cookie, why did you want to know? Couldn't you want for di-nner?" her voice took on a loose drawl, as if she was teasing Urie.

He rolled his eyes and turned towards Shirazu. "Can we talk? Without the interloper?" he asked. If Shirazu had known him way less, he wouldn't have noticed a rather pleading note in his voice. \

Shirazu nodded, and followed Urie out the door as Saiko called out behind them - "I'm not an interloper, whatever that is!"\

Shirazu followed Urie to his room, feeling both excitement and foreboding.

Walking in to Urie's room was challenging - despite people believing that Urie would be neat and tidy, his room was a train wreck. Every time Shirazu walked in, he would have to avoid stepping on paintings, brushes, books - basically, everything that should've been on a table or desk was on the floor." Urie sat down on his bed, and gestured for Shirazu to do the same.

"So, I heard you were promoted to first class…" The way that Urie said that really pulled at Shirazu's heartstrings. It was not bitter, like you would expect, as much as just sad and empty.

"Hey, you ok, man?" Shirazu asked, concerned for the normally stoic young man.

Urie breathed in a deep breath and nodded. "Yes."

Shirazu, feeling even more concerned, asked him again, sitting down beside Urie. "You sure?"

Urie nodded, and after a pause, did something so uncharacteristic that Shirazu almost chocked on his own tongue. He hugged Shirazu.

Shirazu could only sit in stunned silence as Urie, someone who hated feeling and talking and interactions, hugged him as tightly as he could.

"I… I'm happy you're not dead." Urie muttered as he pulled away from the hug, a small blush rising on his pale cheeks.

Shirazu's eyes widened even more. Was this some sort of fever dream? Urie, blushing, Urie telling him that he cared… That was literally the setup in a nice chunk of his dreams.

"Well, I'm happy you're happy I'm not dead either. You know what, it would suck if my own boyfriend was happy I was dead."

Urie blushed even brighter, still not used to Shirazu calling him things like boyfriend or darling. "By the way, your sister knows about your promotion."

Shirazu almost choked on air. "Did you tell her I was…" he couldn't say the last part.

"Hospitalized? No. She thinks you're busy preparing your promotion, and I visited her anyways. She's nice."

Shirazu smiled. "Thank you. I knew if I didn't show up, she would be worried."

Urie nodded at that, and Shirazu smiled even wider. After not seeing his boyfriend, actual boyfriend, for a couple of weeks, Shirazu was ecstatic to know that really, nothing had changed.

After maybe a half an hour of just sitting, Urie hummed and stood up. 'Well, I should probably go to the gym. See ya."

"Do you have to?" his companion grumbled, not wanting Urie to leave.

"Well, if I want to be a special class before 27, I need to become First Rank before christmas, which is three months away. This will be hard, but not impossible."

"Why 27?"

At that question, Urie became incredibly figety. "No reason. Just 27."

"Okaaayyyy…" While Shirazu was not at all convinced, he knew that it would be easier to pull teeth from a twenty foot tall gorilla then to get Urie to answer that question.

As Urie grabbed his bag and was about to exit the door, Shirazu grabbed on to his arm. Urie questioningly turned around, and as he did, he felt Shirazu's lips press on to his. Urie's blush grew was a very shallow kiss, so when Shirazu pulled away, Urie kissed him back harder, as if challenging Shirazu to do better. After a couple of minutes of kissing, they heard a flash, and a childishly mocking voice calling out to them.

"Shiragin, Urie, that's not what parents should do in front of their daughter!"

They quickly snapped their heads towards the source of the voice, and saw Saiko standing maybe thirty feet away with a camera, seemingly photographing them.

Urie breathed a deep sigh. "This is my cue to get out of here." He quickly ran down the stairs to the front door.

At that, Saiko went up to Shirazu, grabbed him by his sleeve, and yanked him into her room. "Shiragin, why didn't you tell me anything! And why did you take such a long time…." The door shut closed behind the two.

The two were just waiting for Mutsuki to show up - he, being the most responsible of the Quinx, sauf the now missing Sasaki, decided that living off of ramen and fast food was not acceptable, especially since they were having guests - albeit just Arima and Akira. So, he decided to go out and get food fir for human consumption, and then cook a meal.

When Saiko first told him of that plan, Shirazu was exited. Mutsuki, despite cooking rarely, was an amazing cook. However, as time went on, Shirazu realized that that was the wrong reaction.

"You're a half ghoul," his internal voice whispered. "Can you appreciate someone's cooking while not being able to swallow it?"

All this made his brain hurt, so Shirazu settled beside Saiko and began to play whatever video game she had on. Much to Saiko's chagrin, didn't care enough to learn the title, but it was amusing enough. Amusing enough to distract him from everything happening right now, and what would happen in the future.


	4. Je te souhaite un bon repas

Shirazu didn't know what he was expecting from playing a video have with the CCG's Queen of Video Games. He lost, every time, and by a very large margin at that. Saiko, despite his clear lack of skills, was still delighted at winning, as well as his participation.

"Ha! I won again, Shiragin! I'm better then you at video games!" She crowed, as if she was a miniature bird, her chest puffed out slightly and her head tilted up.

"Wow. What a coincidence. It's almost like I suck at video games. What a stunner!" He said all that will a terribly sarcastic tone, but for whatever reason, Saiko either didn't pick up on it, or if she did, didn't react at all.

Shirazu was a competitive person, for sure, but he knew that if he trained, and tried hard at beating Saiko at video games, he wouldn't be happy. He knew Saiko loved winning, and it wasn't like he cares about this at all. However, video games provided him with a great distraction. He didn't have to pay attention...

The bell of the door rung shrilly and suddenly - Shirazu, who was somewhat dozing off quickly stood up, and told Saiko he'll get the door.

He knew that it was most likely Mutsuki - Urie wasn't going to be back in less then half an hour, Akira and Arima were showing up around eight or so, and it was maybe four at the most. And they lived in a place guarded by the CCG, so they never got strange visitors.

Shirazu opened the door like always, but in hindsight, he maybe should've looked thru the peephole. The first thing he saw was blonde hair. He suddenly realized that his visitor was no one other then Akira.

"Why are you here so early?" he asked, brow raised. "You were supposed to arrive at eight or so, right?"

Akira's eyes narrowed, and she looked inside. "Arima sent me to talk to you, about dinner. Are any of the Quinx here?"

Shirazu paused, then nodded. "Saiko is upstairs… But she's playing a video game or something.. She won't bother us."

Akira nodded, looked around and walked in. "Is there anyone where no one here will hear you?"

Shirazu nodded as Akira followed him to a room in the basement.

"I'm here to talk about your dinner, and in general the plan for the evening."

Shirazu nodded, a confused expression on his face. "I can't eat human food, so how will that work?"

Akira grinned. "Thankfully for all of us, you got cut in your stomach area. You now have temporary digestion problems for a month or so. You need to eat specialized food, which is abhorrent to the taste, but human food will hurt your still-sensitive stomach."

Shirazu's eyes widened. "Whoever came up with this is a genius! This is great!"

Akira nodded. "Exactly. No one will question this - and in a month…"

Shirazu nodded. "Yeah. I'm leaving the Squad…" he lowered his head.

Akira nodded, and sighed. "It will hurt you, and your squad. But in the long run, this will help you."

Shirazu nodded. "But being on the Arima squad? Being a first class? I don't deserve this… Urie should be the one where I am…"

Akira sighed. "It'll be alright. Don't worry. There is nothing you could change - accept it. Urie will get his promotion when it's his time. You will get yours now - there's nothing more to it."

From the tiredness on her face, to the sadness in her eyes, Shirazu understood something.

"T-this isn't the first time you had said something like that to someone, is it?"

Akira gave a bitter chuckle, which surprised Shirazu.

"I had a friend… Someone that I still care about… He always wanted to be better then I was… But never could be."

Shirazu sighed, and nodded. She was talking is past-tense. "He's dead now, right?"

She hesitated. "Not exactly, no… A part of him is dead… But he is alive."

Shirazu nodded. Hopefully, he would one day here the story, but it was not the time. "So, is this goodbye until in like, three hours?"

Akira nodded. "I probably should have come later. But yes. I'll be back soon."

Shirazu walked Akira upstairs, and opened the door for her. Before leaving, she turned to him. "Remember everything that you're not supposed to do. And also - don't tell anyone what I told you. I'd rather not have my private life go public."

He grinned at her, and smirked slightly. "Of course! I'll never tell anyone!"

Akira smiled her smile uncharacteristically soft, and left.

After closing the door after her, Shirazu headed into the kitchen. While he couldn't eat anything, he was happy just to be in there.

Looking around, he noticed Sasaki's coffee maker, and got an idea. He knew that ghouls could drink coffee.

He went to the machine, and turned it on.

He started to make himself a cup, albeit slowly. This was now the only human-like thing he could eat…

Shirazu still had trouble coming to terms with that. He went from being a normal human guy with family troubles, to being a Quinx with a loving family, to being a half-ghoul with a destroyed family - that was a big change, after all!

He grabbed a large mug that Saiko gave him for his birthday last year. It had pictures of sharks, including Left Shark and their scientific names, and it never failed to crack him up. It was definitely one of his favourite items in the entire house, due to it being so in relation to him. He did have shark teeth, and really was never insecure about them. He found them to be amazing, honestly, and they added so much to his appearance.

With that thought, he ran a hand through his hair. It was growing out again, and he was very happy with that. He preferred long hair, but either way, his hair grew very, very quickly, to the point of being ridiculous. It would be maybe two or three months until it was the same length as before.

Dinner was going to be hard - not only was Sasaki not going to be there, but he couldn't eat. Shirazu sighed.

"Well, whatever. I can deal with this."

Kaneki wasn't happy. Not at all. It wasn't like he had been trapped in his body for three years, working for an organization that he hated and that hated him back, after a botched suicide attempt. It wasn't like he finally remembered everything about his past life when fighting one of his closest allies. It wasn't like the One Eyed Owl had appeared with Tsukiyama's clearly tortured cousin. It wasn't like his cousin wanted to be referred to as Karren. No, everything was alright.

The trio was in a small building that belonged to the Tsukiyama family. Kanae and Tsukiyama were sleeping on the beds, while Kaneki was thinking of what to do. He should probably tell the Quinx… And maybe go gather food…

Yes. Food was a priority. The other two were injured - they needed to eat, to heal.

Glancing at the two, he shrugged and wrote a short note, telling them he was going to find food. Kaneki jumped out the window, and landed in a crouch. The Centipede was finally back, and it was time for revenge. It was time for him to leave his life in the CCG behind - first, he only had to apologize to some people.

Kaneki jumped from building to building, over the bright lights of the city that was his home. He was leaving the human world behind once again, and undertaking a difficult journey.

He got closer and closer to the Quinx's building - despite the security, they wouldn't be able to notice a fast-moving ghoul behind them. He landed with a thump on the roof. Who should he talk to?

Shirazu was loud, Urie could turn him in, Saiko would cry… Mutsuki. Mutsuki was the one he should talk to.

He jumped down onto Mutsuki's window ledge and was relieved to find the window was open - that made his life much easier.

Landing on the floor, he looked around the room. It was familiar.

Suddenly, Kaneki had a thought. He went over to his room, and finding his mask, smiled. Yes. That would be helpful when hunting.

He walked back to Mutsuki's room, and looked at his sleeping son. This was probably going to be one of the last times that he saw him - he wanted to cherish this moment.

He walked over to Mutsuki and tapped him on the back, until he wore up.

Mutsuki shot up, his eyes wide open, about to yell until he saw Kaneki.

"S-sasaki… But you disappeared…"

Kaneki looked at Mutsuki and smiled.

"I'm not coming back. I just wanted to say that I will come and meet with you maybe later… But I'm leaving the CCG. And now I'm Kaneki."

Mutsuki nodded, his face still twisted in a frown. "Alright… Should I tell the others?"

Kaneki nodded. "Maybe later though…It's late."

Mutsuki gave a soft chuckle. "Yeah… Also, about Shirazu…" His voice trailed off, and snapped at the end, as if he was very worried.

"Yes?" Kaneki asked

"We were fighting a ghoul… Noro, I believe. Shirazu… was wounded. He's in the hospital. Injured, but alive… That's all they told us. We can't visit him. So, if you have the time…"

"Visit him."

Mutsuki nodded. "Thank you."

Kaneki nodded, smiled, and left out the window. For the next couple of minutes, Mutsuki stared out of his window, wondering what to do next.

Kaneki showed up in a convenience store, and bought black hair dye. He wanted his hair to be one colour again. He had one coloured hair as Kaneki, after all, and he was back to being Kaneki Ken, Centipede, Eyepatch. As well, it was much, much easier to dye his hair black then it was to get his hair white. After paying for it, he walked out and went to hunt for potential food.

About an hour later, Kaneki walked back into his hopefully only temporary location, dragging bodies behind him. When he walked into the kitchen, he was greeted by strange sight. Tsukiyama was sitting listlessly at the table, a cup of coffee in his hand, not paying any attention to anything. His eyes were glazed over, and honestly, Kaneki found the sight to be so, so scary. When Kaneki approached Tsukiyama, he looked up, and nodded.

"Hello. You're Kaneki now." It wasn't a question as much as it was a statement. Tsukiyama knew him very well, it seemed.

Kaneki nodded. He walked over to the kitchen cabinets, the bodies still dragging on the floor, leaving a bloody trail. "Are you alright?" Kaneki asked. He knew that Tsukiyama wasn't, of course. But this was just courtesy, pure and simple. He couldn't offer Tsukiyama anything more.

Tsukiyama let out a very cold, almost bitter chuckle. "Does it seem like I'm okay?" Kaneki shook his head. "I'm not."

Kaneki sighed, and nodded. He could understand what Tsukiyama felt, and it honestly hurt him. He was supposed to be strong, to protect his friends, to stop the CCG from hurting anyone. And funnily enough, he hurt Tsukiyama the most. He picked up one of the bodies, and started carving it up. He had to eat, and he had to feed Tsukiyama. Tsukiyama's survival was important to him.

After finishing carving up the human, he took two very expensive plates and put the food on them. He walked over to his companion, and set one of the plates down before him.

"Here. You have to eat." At that, Tsukiyama looked up again, and chuckled.

"You forgot the forks."

Kaneki joined Tsukiyama in the laughter. "I'll get them."

After coming back, Kaneki noticed that the mood rise. It wasn't a good time, sure, but it was better.

Suddenly, the duo heard a noise, and Kanae came out of the bedroom, leaning heavily against the wall. Tsukiyama instantly shot up from his seat, and went over to help his cousin, while Kaneki took another plate, and put some more food on it. This time, he also included a fork.

Tsukiyama sat Kanae between himself and Kanae, and asked him gently. "What would you like to be referred to as, right now, mon cher fleur?"

Kanae looked around, very upset and awkward. He took a bite of his food and paused. "Well… I want to be a female Karren…" she sighed, and closed his eyes.

Tsukiyama smiled gently at her. "To us, you will be Karren. Is that be acceptable?"

Karren nodded lightly, and murmured softly to Tsukiyama, "Thank you so very much."

Kaneki nodded at that. "I hate to interrupt, but Karren, Tsukiyama - do you have any idea of where we should go, or what we should do?"

Tsukiyama nodded. "Well, firstly, meet up with the :Re staff, and maybe find Banjou, if we can?"

Kaneki and Karren both nodded. Their adventure was just beginning.


	5. ReUnions

As Shirazu finished his cup of coffee, he heard a knock on the door. Knowing that this time, it couldn't be anyone but Mutsuki, he put his cup in the sink and walked over to the door. He opened it, and just like he assumed - he was greeted by Mutsuki.

Upon seeing Shirazu, the boy on the other side gave out a small sound of happiness and surprise, and quickly rushed into the house, and tried to hug Shirazu with a couple of heavy and large shopping bags hanging off his arms.

At that, a wave of nausea hit Shirazu, but he held it down, smiling at the very, very exited Mutsuki.

"Hey, how about I help you with those before we go and chat?" Shirazu asked, beaming at Mutsuki.

The other quickly nodded, and they made their way towards the kitchen area to put away all the food. The entire time, Shirazu was smiling, though his stomach was turning at the digusting smell of the food.

Mutsuki was recounting what had happened in the days that had passed since the battle. Saiko had been moved up to a first rank, which hadn't pleased Urie, though Urie had acted proud in public.

"He's getting way better as of late, you know?" said Mutsuki as the two settled down on the living room couch. "I'm so amazed by his giant, giant improvement… I know it's been a very, very, difficult journey."

"Absolutely. Every since we got together," at that, both Shirazu and Mutsuki blushed lightly, "he has been getting so much better."

"Yeah. I'm proud of him."

"Proud of who?" A small, tired voice interrupted the duo.

"Oh, Saiko, join us!" Mutsuki called out to the sleepy girl, who looked at Shirazu petulantly.

"Hi, Mutsu-chan. Shirazu, where did you go? I fell asleep." She slithered over to the couch, sitting beside Shirazu. "And who was at the door the first time?"

Mutsuki looked at Shirazu questioningly, who just waved it off.

"It was a package from the hospital. You know, some personal food that will not hurt my well," he looked down at his torso, "you know what I'm talking about."

The duo shuddered when thinking about his very painful wounds. They both saw them during the raid, and God forbid they had to see them again,

Shirazu felt himself relax when the two accepted it. "So, what do you want to do while we wait for our dear Urie?" he asked, wanting to take the attention very far away from himself.

"We can watch a movie..." Mutsuki suggested.

The other two quickly agreed, and the fight over which movie to watch commenced.

"Come on! _The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo_ is amazing!" Shirazu called out, not wanting to watch _The Hunger Games_ for the trillionth time.

"But Hunger Games is so fun!"

"No! Dragon Tattoo is so much better!"

"No, it isn't!"

"You've literally never seen it!"

"So what?"

"How about you watch it?"

"Stop!" Mutsuki called, waving his arms in the air. "How about we watch a movie I want?"

Shirazu and Saiko glanced at each other. "Sure…" They both groaned out.

Mutsuki smiled brightly. "We're watching Gone Girl."

While the movie commenced, Mutsuki, their designated chef while Haise was MIA started preparing the dinner.

Both Saiko and Shirazu found the movie to be very good, however, somewhere in the middle, the doorbell rang.

Mutsuki stood up to get the door, while Shirazu and Saiko continued watching the movie, enthralled.

"So, why could it be?" Saiko asked Shirazu

"Who could who be?" Shirazu asked confused

Saiko rolled her eyes at him. "At the door, dummy."

"Hey! That's rude!"

She chuckled. "Well, who do you think that is?" She asked again.

"Well, most likely Urie."

At that exact moment, Urie walked into the room, Mutsuki following behing him. "Most likely Urie?" he remarked. "Why most likely me?"

Shirazu smirked. "You figure it out, dear Urie."

Urie sighed, and plopped right in between Saiko and Shirazu, prompting Mutsuki to pout and sit on the other side of Shirazu.

"That was my seat, Urie!"

"Tough luck."

Mutsuki sighed as Shirazu patted his head.

"I know he's cruel. It's ok. You have moi."

"Moi?" Urie raised his brow.

Mutsuki sighed, as he played along. "He's a monster. A true monster."

"A cruel devil." Saiko joined in.

Urie rolled his eyes and stood up. "I'll go get ready. We have," he checked his watch, "Maybe an hour until Akira and Arima arrive."

He turned towards the other three, though specifically Saiko. "Look presentable. Mutsuki, I trust you but Shirazu and Saiko? Be careful. I'll make sure you look alright." With those words, he stormed off.

"We pissed him off, didn't we?" asked Shirazu, although he already knew the answer.

"Yes." answered Mutsuki, sighing. "I guess we better get ready." He slowly stood up, and walked to the kitchen, to check on the food.

All three of them had managed to finish getting ready in forty-five minutes. The guests were supposed to arrive in fifteen minutes. The food was set out. But where exactly was Urie? Out of them all, Urie was the first to leave to get changed, and yet he was the last one to be ready.

"Mutsu-chan, Shiragin, go check up on him!" called Saiko as she lay down on the couch, tired of standing up.

The two glanced at each other, and nodded at Saiko. "Sure! That's a really good idea!" Mutsuki responded as he stood up and started walking towards the stairs, Shirazu following close behind.

The duo made their way to Urie's door, and knocked.

For a moment, they didn't hear anything, until a soft voice called out - "Come it."

The two shared a sharp glance, wondering what Urie was doing, but shrugged and walked in.

The room was actually slightly cleaner then a couple of hours ago, but it was still rather disorganized, which made Shirazu happy. He couldn't bear the horrendous thought of Urie having a cleaner room then him - it would tear him apart.

"You okay?" Mutsuki asked Urie, who was strangely still in front of the mirror.

Urie turned around to face the duo in his doorway. "Yes, I'm fine. I'll be down in a minute."

Shirazu and Mutsuki left, though both shared a strange feeling of being severely lied to. They guessed that Urie wasn't fine - he was acting strange, and they both wanted to get to the bottom of that mystery. But first and foremost, their goal was to host a brilliant dinner for their brilliant grandparent figures, and then figure out what to do next - this was not going to be an easy task, not at all but they really didn't have a choice. And either way, getting Urie to say something was like pulling a tooth - painful and difficult. Better wait until it falls out on it's own.

Showing up at :Re, this time, was the least nerve-wracking yet at the same time, most terrifying thing Kaneki had ever done since recovering his memories, and that included fighting one of the most powerful ghouls in existence. He didn't know how Yomo, Touka, and the rest of the ghouls that knew him would react. Hah, re:act. His old self would've made that pun.

Shaking his head, he looked at Karren and Tsukiyama, and gestured them to follow him around the building to the back door.

It was probably the most suspicious way to go about doing something like this, but Kaneki didn't really care. He didn't want to be seen by people right now - if a CCG agent, or God forbid, one of his precious Quinx was there, it wouldn't be good for him.

The last ten days, he had helped Tsukiyama and Karren with protecting the main Tsukiyama family home, and the remaining servants and family.

Thankfully, Mirumo had the foresight to put the property under another name, alongside with a large percentage of his stock, so the remaining part of the family had not only money, but also a home. The trio would be staying in their small dwelling for the time being, though. It was safer that way, and it was easier to access the city.

Kaneki knocked sharply on the door three times. According to Tsukiyama, that was the ghoul code for entry. Sure enough, after a moment, a petite, short-haired blonde woman opened the door. Upon seeing Tsukiyama, was about to shut it, but then she saw Kaneki. Wordlessly, she opened the door wider and the trio entered the café. Or, at least the café's waiting room.

"I'll be right back." The girl called out before disappearing thru a door, which she locked after her.

Karren looked around slowly, taking in the room. "Well, this a very practical room. That's interesting." She murmured, to break the silence taking over and consuming the room.

Tsukiyama chuckled lightly. "Looks like they modelled after Yoshimura's design. Good on them."

"Hm." hummed Kaneki lightly, somewhat worried about the moment of truth to come. He wasn't exactly happy about what was happening. He was worried about how his old... Friends would react to this. He finally remembered, but at what cost? While he was pondering that question, the door opened, and in stepped a person who he finally remembered - Touka.

She glanced around the room, her gaze resting on Karren the longest. "Who's that?" She asked as Karren snorted.

"Karren Von Rosewald." She replied huffily, wondering if that girl was having a bad day, or if she was just genuinely rude. "And you are?"

"Touka." She said shortly, turning towards Kaneki and Tsukiyama. "What are you two doing here? Haise, how did you meet," her eyes shifted to Tsukiyama suspiciously. Karren stayed silent, and observed the exchange.

"Touka, I'm not Sasaki anymore." Kaneki said softly, giving Touka a soft, yet worried smile. "I'm Kaneki again."

Touka's eyes narrowed, and she glared intensely at Tsukiyama. "What did you do, Tsukiyama? What the fuck did you-" Kaneki and Karren cut her off in unison, with Karren visibly angry and Kaneki disapproving.

"It wasn't Tsukiyama." Said Kaneki evenly. "It was our dear One-Eyed Owl."

Touka sat down, her eyes wide. "W-what?"

At that moment in time, the blonde girl from before burst in. "Touka, Touka, -"

Touka instantly cut her off. "Not now, Asa."

Asa opened her mouth as Touka waved her off. "Not now."

Asa growled. "Yomo arrived and told me to get you."

"Why didn't you say that earlier?"

"I tried to!"

"Can you get him in here?"

"Sure. But I'm not your messenger!" Asa called out, leaving quickly to fetch Yomo.

"Can you wait to talk until Yomo gets here?"

All three nodded, they weren't in a rush.

The four sat awkwardly in the small room, looking around, trying to avoid each other's gaze.


	6. 8D to 5D

A couple of minutes had passed, when the door swung open revealing Yomo, with Asa right behind him. The two exchanged a few words, after which Asa nodded and walked off. Yomo approached the quartet and sat down between Touka and Kaneki, looking suspiciously at the three newcomers.

"Hey…" muttered Kaneki, trying to figure out Touka and Yomo's mood. He hoped they were not angry - after all, both were strong figures that were seemingly rather angry at him.

Yomo fixed a glare at Kaneki. "Explain." he stated plainly.

Touka nodded. "So, why are you here?"

Kaneki sighed. "Long, complicated version, or short, simple version?" he asked

"Long." Yomo replied.

"Alright. The CCG had recently received a tipoff that the Tsukiyama family was working with the Tree."

"So it was the Tsukiyama's." Touka interrupted with a dirty glare at Tsukiyama, who lowered his head.

Karren didn't say anything but stared at the floor solemnly.

"Actually, no. It wasn't Shuu. And I'll continue now. Well, as such, the CCG planned a raid - we were very ill-prepared as we expected something else. There was one Special class, one Associate Special class, and the rest were, well… As well, the leader of one of the squads was recently removed and their new leader was not as skilled as he should've been due to a lack of experience. We were supposed to capture Shuu and his father, Mirumo, however, Eto and Noro showed up. Noro was on the floor with the ill-prepared squad and my squad, and as far as I know, was killed by one of my subordinates. You know, the guy with the shark teeth?"

Touka nodded. "Shira-something."

Kaneki smiled. "Yep. Him."

"That is actually incredibly interesting! Noro is unkillable… Or was, at least. What did he do?" She mused, snorting. "Do you know? Because it would be helpful."

"I don't know…" At that, Touka groaned. "Though, according to Karren, that was all planned, and in the works for a very But, let's continue the story. I was fighting Tsukiyama on the rooftop, when Karren appeared. By that point in time, I was slowly remembering things - I recognized Tsukiyama as Tsukiyama, and I also remembered some things dealing with my mother. Eto showed up, I remembered more and more, before actually becoming, in a sense, Kaneki… She had let me cut her in half, after which I ate parts of her and escaped. I couldn't go back to the CCG, especially after learning what happened with Arima… So I came here after healing and making arrangements dealing with the Tsukiyama family estates, and certain other issues."

Touka smiled at Kaneki. "Well, welcome back." She turned to Yomo. "Can we…"

"Can we what?" Yomo replied, a glint in his eyes.

"I swear. You have been spending too much time with Uta. Can they work here or something?"

Yomo paused for a moment. "Yes and no."

"Explain?"

"I feel that they can stay, but Tsukiyama and Kaneki shouldn't work, at least in the shop."

Touka nodded. "That is true… Maybe they can take over some behind the scenes jobs?"

Yomo nodded. "Aya can maybe move up and work, and…"

The two started talking in soft whispers, while Karren, Tsukiyama and Kaneki sat awkwardly. They didn't know what was going to happen, but they hoped that everything would turn out well for them.

It took ten or so minutes for the two to come to consensus. "Let's go." Touka stated, gesturing at the trio, who obediently stood up and followed her to wherever she was leading them.

Turns out that she was leading them upstairs. There was a hallway with a couple dozen doors leading to doors on either side. When everyone arrived upstairs, Touka turned around to face the newcomers. "So, let me explain everything."

She first turned to Karren. "You were not seen by the CCG, and as such, you will work the front of house. I'll explain your duties after I hand the children to Yomo. Until you three find housing, you will stay with me."

Karren nodded.

Seeing that, Touka turned to the two guys. "You two will stay in the back right room, until you find a different place to stay. Now, go with Yomo - he will explain your duties. As well, you should be here in maybe an hour - I want to introduce you guys to some new members of the team."

As they left towards the back room, Touka smiled at Karren and ushered her into a room that was probably Touka's.

Downstairs, Yomo looked at Kaneki, and then at Tsukiyama. "You will take over the hunting and gathering duties, so to speak. You will hunt whoever threatens this establishment, and gather the corpses."

"That was a detailed explanation." Tsukiyama muttered under his breath. Kaneki chuckled softly as Yomo sent the duo a dirty look.

"I'll teach you what to do, alright? And it's very, very simple."

"Oh?" Kaneki said.

Yomo nodded. "If there is any ghoul that is attracting too much attention, you first warn them. If, within a week they don't stop attracting too much attention, you eliminate them."

Tsukiyama nodded. "Kill them?"

"No, tickle them. Of course you kill them."

Tsukiyama nodded. "Of course. Sorry." He looked down.

Yomo looked at Tsukiyama, then Kaneki curiously. "What is with him?" he mouthed.

Kaneki looked back at Yomo and mouthed "I'll tell you later."

"How about the second part?" Kaneki asked

"Remember how you collected the corpses with me once? Basically, you do the same thing."

"Alright." Kaneki nodded. "Can you tell me the things that happened while I was away?"

Yomo nodded. "I'm not the best storyteller, though."

"Yep. We know." Kaneki replied.

"Well, Roma is a clown. She still works here as a part-timer. Irimi and Enji are both alive, and are full-time employees. Aya works here as well, and so does Rio - they're both rather new here. Touka and I work here as well. Generally, I do the more… illicit duties with Aya and Rio, though you're replacing them."

"Well, we saw Aya, but how about Rio?" Kaneki asked.

"Well, he will arrive in," he checked his watch. "about forty minutes."

Eto sat at the large table between Tatara and Miza, who was acting as the new, or at least temporary Noro, clicking her tongue as the other two talked. "So, what's out plan for the whole Kanou thing?" she suddenly asked, her tongue clicking ceasing for a brief moment.

Tatara sighed at her immaturity, and gestured for Miza to speak.

"The CCG has been weakened significantly by what had just occurred. As well, Noro had been at the scene long enough to capture the footage of the Quinx's quinces that we needed. We have selected five CCG officers, two of whom are part of the Quinx, three human one of whom is deceased, to be "taken"."

At that, Eto's eyes glimmered. "Oh, so who are the five?" She asked, smirking both inwardly and outwardly. Of course she knew who the five were, but she wanted Tatara or Miza to say their names.

Miza nodded. "Ihei Hairu, who's corpse will be taken tomorrow at three AM by Hakatori. That same day, the vacationing Hirako Take will be taken by Shousei and Hooguro. They will be the least missed, at least at first, so it's optimal to do them first. Takeomi Kuroiwa, who will be taken the day after at three AM by Naki and Shikorae, Shirazu Ginshi will be taken by Ayato, and finally, Saiko Yonebayashi will be taken by me."

Eto nodded. "Isn't the entire Itou squad, including Kuroiwa, on vacation as well?" Her tone was light and airy, as if she knew the answer to the question but wanted to have the other two talk for a while.

"Yes, but his father will be present at his place of residence until Tuesday, so that is the optimal time to strike." Tatara responded.

"Hm. Well, this will be interesting for the CCG." Eto chuckled.

Miza nodded. "They will lose half of the original Quinx, as well as Sasaki Haise."

"And we will gain two more at least mildly successful half-ghouls, and three individuals we can experiment on!"

Tamara just sighed. Why did he decide to become the parental figure to such disruptive people? First Ayato, now Eto… Honestly, he should deal with calmer people. "Three possible individuals, at most." He muttered, his voice sounding even more distorted thru his mask. "We must first revive Ihei."

"Correct! But it's so simple!" Eto called to him, grinning. "I did it many times already!"

"On ghouls." He deadpanned, not understanding why Eto was so certain.

"So? I can always make it work."

Tatara gave another sigh. "I trust you, then."

He turned to Miza, who was standing and watching the short exchange. "It's time for us to go."

"Alright, Tatara." She replied, and quickly followed him out of the meeting-room.

Eto remained seated in her chair for while after that, looking at the five candidates, and deciding what to do with them in the future. "I can't wait…" Her voice echoed ominously in the room, a smile creeping onto her face. "This will be so exiting…"


End file.
